The LANDWIHTA

These powerful creatures are nature-spirits. They are the guardians of the land. Also called ‘rock-dwellers’, or ‘landwights’, they look after the safety of the land, ensuring its fertility and giving advice to humans with hunting and fishing.

Their origins are in Norse and Icelandic mythology. The landwihta are shape-shifters and can appear as almost anything. They may take the form of a fox, a boar, or a snake, or even simply appear as an inanimate object such as a boulder or a rock. In the painting to the right, by Swedish artist August Malmström, they are shown as clouds of mist dancing over the water.

The Landwihta were worshiped in secret places that were dedicated to them. Next time you take a walk in a forest, a park, or by a stream, make sure you don’t drop any litter or damage any trees because you never know - a Landwihta may be watching! If you look after nature, the Landwihta will look after you.